"Continued assassinations will explode the entire situation. We are asking the international community, especially the US, to move immediately and put strong pressure on Israel to stop this," he said in an interview with AFP.

Hamas said it had been retaliating for an explosion at a Hamas rally that killed 15 people on Friday. Israel denies involvement.

"They killed innocent Palestinians during a parade on Friday and then accused Israel. And in order to back up this lie, they fired dozens of Qassam [rockets]... and wounded Israeli civilians. We will not let this pass," Mr Mofaz said.